NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Search engines are dying
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Search engines are dying
Donna Dolezal Zelzer (djz_at_efn.org)
Wed, 12 Nov 1997 10:40:15 -0800
At 9:18 PM +0000 11/11/1997, Ray Taylor made this statement of rare insight:
>
> Perhaps it's also time to say goodbye to the free lunch. I would happily
> pay a subscription fee for the right to have sites listed on a decent
> index, provided I got good service in return, a guaranteed place in
> appropriate sections and sub-sections for my clients, and a 24-hour
> turnaround. And so long as the site owner spent some money on promoting
> the site via print and broadcast media.
I tend to disagree. Not every good site with useful content can afford to
pay for a listing, and if sites who can pay are the only ones listed, or
get preferential treatment, this is unfair to people who come to the search
engines. (Not to mention unfair to the smaller sites.)
To me, a search engine should not have any bias towards sites with more
money to spend. If I'm looking for information on say, bears, I don't want
to find only commercial sites about hunting resorts and the like. I want to
find content-rich sites with actual information -- sites that may not have
a budget to buy a listing in a search engine.
Now, this type of thing would be ok if the search engine clearly indicated
that this was the case and warned the user that the only sites listed are
those that have paid for a listing. (And if there were still search engines
that did not charge for listings.)
As to the original question, are search engines dying? I think not. Their
percentage contribution to your vistors may drop with time, but there are
always going to be people newly online or with a new interest in whatever
you have to offer who have no other way to find you except through the
search engines.
Donna
---------------------
Donna Dolezal Zelzer <djz_at_efn.org>
The Online Birth Center (pregnancy, birth, midwifery, breastfeeding)
http://www.efn.org/~djz/birth/birthindex.html
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